“Our team is very excited to be playing in the Hoophall Miami Invitational, right here in our own backyard, at AmericanAirlines Arena,” UM coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We will have a lot of new faces in our Hurricanes program this year, so playing downtown early in the season should provide a lot of excitement for our fans.” Ethan Hymanehyman@newsobserver.com

“Our team is very excited to be playing in the Hoophall Miami Invitational, right here in our own backyard, at AmericanAirlines Arena,” UM coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We will have a lot of new faces in our Hurricanes program this year, so playing downtown early in the season should provide a lot of excitement for our fans.” Ethan Hymanehyman@newsobserver.com

UM to compete in Hoophall Miami Invitational

The University of Miami men’s basketball team will play Dec. 3 at AmericanAirlines Arena in the Hoophall Miami Invitational, an eight-team event hosted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hurricanes will face Wofford College in a doubleheader with Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Illinois in the other game. A week later, Georgetown plays LaSalle and Temple plays DePaul.

“Our team is very excited to be playing in the Hoophall Miami Invitational, right here in our own backyard, at AmericanAirlines Arena,” UM coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We will have a lot of new faces in our Hurricanes program this year, so playing downtown early in the season should provide a lot of excitement for our fans.”

The two-day event will bookend a week of related events in South Florida. There will be a showcase for local high school teams Dec. 8 at AmericanAirlines Arena. Fans who buy tickets for the high school game also get entrance to the college game.

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▪ UM women’s golf: University of Miami junior Daniela Darquea headlined the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Golf All-Academic Team, as she was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league office.

Darquea becomes Miami’s first ACC Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the award was established in September 2007. The honor is bestowed annually to the top junior or senior in their respective sports. Candidates for the award must have maintained a 3.0-grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.

Also joining Darquea on the ACC All-Academic team were teammates Dewi Weber and Delfina Acosta.

Senior punter Justin Vogel and redshirt defensive lineman Al-Quadin Muhammad highlighted the preseason All-ACC team as both were named to the first team.

Junior quarterback Brad Kaaya and junior kicker Michael Badgley earned second-team recognition. Seniors Stacy Coley, Jermaine Grace and Danny Isidora were on the third team. Rounding out the preseason all-league team was senior defensive back Corn Elder and junior running back Joe Yearby as they both earned fourth team honors.

… UM announced that sophomore linebacker James King has left the football team to pursue other options.

“I have given James a full and unconditional release, and I want to wish him the very best in his future moving forward,” coach Mark Richt said.

King saw limited time as a freshman with most of his action coming on special teams. The Miami native joined the Hurricanes before the 2015 season following a standout career at Booker T. Washington High School.

▪ FIU women’s basketball: The FIU women’s basketball program has completed its staff as head coach Tiara Malcom has added Joe Silvestri as the final assistant for the 2016-17 season, the team announced. Silvestri comes to the Panthers from nearby UCF, where he ascended to assistant coach after serving as director of program development.